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60th Congress, ) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. I Report 

1st Session. \ \ No. 1302 



CONCERNING THE LOCATION OF THE GRANT MEMORIAL IN THE 
BOTANIC GARDEN IN THE CITY OF WASHINGTON. 



March 24, 1908. — Ordered to be printed. 



Mr. Howard, from the Committee on the Library, submitted the 

following 

ADVERSE REPORT. 

[To accompany H. R. 10502 and H. J. Res. 117.] 

The Committee on the Library, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 
10502), introduced by Mr. Sherley, to amend the provision of the 
sundry civil appropriation act of June 30, 1906, making an appropria- 
tion for continuing- the work of erecting the memorial to Gen. Ulysses 
S. Grant, report the same to the House with the recommendation that 
it lie on the table. The committee also report to the House, with the 
recommendation that it lie on the table, H. J. Res. 117, introduced by 
Mr. Mann, which pi'ovides that the Grant Memorial be located upon 
the large circular or elliptical plat between the White House grounds 
and the Washington Monument. 

The committee has considered these propositions together, because, 
while dijffering in their terms, the effect of either, if adopted, would 
be to change the present location of the Grant Memorial as selected 
by the Grant Memorial Commission. The sundry civil act for 1907 
contained this provision: __________^_ 

That t)ie memorial maj' be located in the unoccupied portion of the Botanic Garden 
grounds between First and Second streets as recommended by the Grant Memorial 
Commission. 

Mr. Sherley 's bill proposes to that provision this limitation: 

But in making such location no historic or other tree planted in such grounds shall 
be removed or otherwise disturbed. 

The site selected by the Commission has growing upon it several 
trees said to be of historic interest and others of botanical rather than 
historical interest; consequently, if the amendment were adopted the 
memorial could not occupj^ the selected location, and the precise ques- 
tion to be decided is shall the Grant memorial or the trees, historic and 
otherwise, occupy this particular spot. The preponderance of evi- 
dence before the committee was to the effect that the trees could be 
removed to some other situation without material risk of loss, and that 



^-3n')-b' 



2 GRANT MEMORIAL IN BOTANIC GARDEN, WASHINGTON, D. C. 

the iDciiioiitil. I)ecau.se of its dcsii^ni jiiid sixo. could not l>e suitably 
l)lacod in tmy other situation in \\'ashin*,''toii that is hotli available and 
desiial)lc; and in this \ie\v of the matter the majority of the committee 
resolved and do recommend that the trees standinj^ on the memorial 
site l)e I'emoved, at a reasonable cost, and that the memorial be erected 
on the site selected, 

The resolution of Mr. Mann, if adopted, would Hx the site of the 
memorial between the White Iloust' antl \\ ushiiiLitoii Monuiui'ut. The 
reasons a<i:ainst this which controlled the mait)rity of the committee 
are clearly and co<iently set forth l)y the members of the Grant Memo- 
rial Commission and others acting- foi-and with it in the decision of this 
question. The conunittee have, therefore, (juoted the material j)arts 
of the >tatements of the Commission, artist, and other exi)erts made 
befo!-e it during the in(|uiry these measures have necessitated, and 
commend them to the consideration of the House as jjriving a full his- 
tory of the movement to erect a memorial to Cien. I'lysses S. (iruiit in 
"NVashinu^ton. the reasons for the sit(^ selected, a history of the Botanic 
(larden and of the plantiiiir of the Critti'iiden tiee. the Heck tree, and 
otluMs embraced in th(» statemtMit of Supt. ^^'illiam K. Smith. 

Those of the connnitt«'e a<:i"eein»if to the action reconunended lind 
their views admirably and succinctly stated in these resolutions adopted 
l)y the New York Conmiandery of the Military Order of the LoN'al 
Legion: 

■Whereas there is an effort on the part of some of the press and citizens of Wash- 
infjton to force the removal of the memorial to Gen. U. .S. Grant from the Botanic 
Ganli n in that city; and 

Whereas (ieneral (irant was a citizen of this State, a member of this commandery, 
and its commander durin» the years 1SS4 an<l ISS.i: Therefore 

RiKoltril bij the Xeii: York ('umiiiundir;/ of (he Militar;/ Order oj llie Loyal Legion, That 
the location of the Grant memorial in the Botanic Garden in Washington meets our 
approval. 

AV.>in/»rr/,Thatthelocationof the( irant memorial isan ideal one, at the foot of the Cap- 
itol and on the axis of the Capitol and WashinL'ton Monument, with ample >;ronnds 
siirnnunlingit. It has receive<l theajiproval of the Superintendent of I'nldic Huildinps 
and (irouixls, of various expert architects and sculptors, the sculptor and architect of 
the memorial, the army societies, the veterans of tin- civil war, the Wa.>^hinf:ton Chap- 
ter of the American In-titutc of Architects, also of (ieneral (irant's family; and the 
memorial has been chau'red to lit the jn-esent location, whicli was made in l!KtM and 
conlirmed in liiOd. To ask its removal at this time is uncalled for and impracticable, 
and wc earnestly protest apiinst it. 

L'estihrd, That a copy of these resolutions be furnished by the recorder of this com- 
mandery to the (irant .Memorial Commission anil to the Senators and Representa- 
tives in Congress from this State. 

8T.ATEMEXT OF OKX. ('.RENVILLE .M. I>OU(iE, (IIAIRMAN ■■< !•■!. ,;KA.NT MK.MORI\I ..-M- 

.MIS.SIOX. 

General ])oi)<;k. (ientlemen, perhai)s itjv*^iUl be belter lor me to state to you here 
the efforts that have Iwen ma<le to buUd'a mem<irial to (ieneral (irant. 

In ls«).5 the S(>»Sety of the .\rmy of the Tennessee, of which (ieneral (irant was 
formerly the connnander, appointed a comndtteeof ho otllcers, several of whoiu were 
Members of (^iiiizn'ss, to come to Washington atid to apjieal to Congn-ss to make a 
jirojierappropriatioii for a ])ro|K'r memorial to (ieneral (irant. That committi'c came 
here and labored up to 1001. In liHil what was known as the llepbtirn bill wa.** 
])asse<l, which aiipropriat«>d ?Jl.'r»0,(H)0 for a memorial to (ieneral (irant: and the com- 
mission name<l to carry it out was Si'cretary Root, Mr. Wetmore, and myself. That 
law, as .Imlge Sndtli has said, we all considered as adiniuate. But when the <iuestion 
wa.« raised as to the juri.Hliction of Congre.<s, in order to In* in accord with Congress 
and do nothing that woul<l not mct't their a|)provaI, we simjily asked that that 
amendment Im> pas.<etl. Ibit we <lo not consider and did not consider that the location 
of the memorial down lure was njade under that amendment. It was made under 
the original act. 



AHH 24 lyji 



GRANT MEMORIAL IN BOTANIC GARDEN, WASHINGTON, D. C. 3 

Our first work under this act authorizing the memorial was to obtain the models. 
In asking for models we selected ourselves two places. One was the north point of 
what is known as the " White circle," the north end of it; and the other was the 
square south of the State Department. We did that because the sculptors, in pre- 
senting their models, wanted to make models that would fit the ground where they 
were to go. The model which was accepted, which I think is one of the finest that 
has ever been produced, had, before it was accepted, the judgnjent of St. Gaudens, 
Mr. Daniel G. French, Mr. Burnham, Mr. McKim, General Schofield, and Mr. ]Mere- 
dith; and they were unanimous in accepting it. That model was made to fit the 
north end of the White House lot. It is 254 feet long and '69 or 70 feet wide, and of 
course requires a great deal of space about it. 

After the model was accepted there was a great deal of opposition to our going into 
the White House lot. The President and some of the members of the Cabinet and 
others thought that that lot should not be disturbed. They claimed that it broke 
the view from the White House to the Washington Monument. And in response to 
those protests we made up our minds that if we could find a place in Washington 
that was suitable for the purpose we would go to it. The commission for two years 
looked at every square and every place in Washington, and we finally located in the 
Botanic Garden here in 1903, and made up our minds that that was the only ground 
that had the space and that was proper for a memorial to Grant. We considered 
that the memorial to such a person as General Grant should be somewhere in con- 
nection with the White House and the Washington TNIonument or with the Capitol 
and the Washington Monument — on the axis of two of those buildings. We did not 
think it was proper to put it out in the city here in any confined square. Therefore 
we located in the Botanic Garden in 1903, and remained there, looking at other 
places as from time to time they would be proposed to us. For instance, when they 
got the Union Station here some persons came to us and suggested that we place 
Grant in the plaza in front of that station, and the commission went there and viewed 
that site. We found that that was under the District Commissioners and the District 
Commissionersihad other views in the matter and of course would not let us go there. 
When Secretary Taft became a member of the commission the question of this loca- 
tion came up again, and we considered it, and it was concluded that this was the 
only place that was suitable in Washington to place a memorial to General Grant. 

In the spring of 1906, when it was coming near the time that we should commence 
work, or consider it, we had the outline of the memorial staked out there; and it has 
been staked out there for two years. We never have had any protest or any commu- 
nication of any kind in relation to it. The location was accepted generally by every- 
one, and a great many persons consider it the best. All the sculptors and architects 
of the country that have seen it have said that it was a fine location and a proper 
location. 

When work was commenced in the Botanic Gardens this fall. Secretary Taft was 
in the Philippines and 1 was out AVest; and I received a communication from the 
War Department to the effect that there were protests being made on account of the 
three historical trees. That is the first that any of us ever heard of those trees. We 
knew nothing about them. Nobody had ever said a word to us about them, although 
we had had staked out there in the grounds the outline of this memorial. And after 
receiving this protest, and not being able to be here, I sent a telegram to Lieutenant 
Poole, who had charge of the work in the absence of Colonel Bromwell, directing 
him to suspend the work until I could return. 

When the time came to make the actual location in the grounds. Colonel Brom- 
well, who had charge of it, and who had already made the location, suggested to the 
commission that we have some experts to advise him as to the exact location and as 
to the fitting of the model to the location. At his suggestion, Frederick Law 01m- 
stead, jr., of Massachusetts; Mr. McKim, of New^ York; Mr. Shrady, the sculptor; 
Mr. Casey, the architect, and himself were designated. They made the location 
almost exactly where Colonel Bromwell had originally made it. They having made 
the location, and knowing all about it, I, at the suggestion of the Assistant Secretary 
of War, asked those gentlemen to meet me here on the 12th day of November to go 
and see what we could do to change the monument or to save the trees. 

Several of the gentlemen who were present at that meeting had had a great deal 
of experience in the moving of trees; and it was the unanimous decision of the com- 
mission that there was no difficulty in moving these three trees and saving them. 
And upon that the commission advised unanimously that the monument be retained 
where it was and that the three trees should be moved. 

Since that time the commission has investigated this matter of moving the trees 
and has gotten all the information there is. We have with us here to-day a gentle- 
man who has been in the business for thirty years, who has been here and seen 
these trees, and has successfully moved trees equally as large. The commission 



4 GRANT MEMORIAL IN BOTANIC GARDEN, WASHINGTON. D. C. 

desires, Ixjfore you make any decision, that vou will hear liitn. lie has photographs 
and other data to show you, and he stands, 1 think, at the head of that work in this 
country. 

Even up to to-day we have never had any communications — I do not think we 
have ha<l a single conimunication — asking that this luonunient should be removed, 
but we have had a great many letters an<l have had resolutions from a great many 
societies protesting against it. I will simply read you some of them to show what 
8ort of commuiiicatiuns the commission has received. 

Secretary Taki. That is, General, against the change? 

General Doduk. .Vgainst any change of the monument. We have hail a few (two 
or three or three or four) comnmnications in relation to saving the trees, Vmt none 
that advise a change in the location of the monument. 

.\mong the.«e resolutions is one embotlying the action of the Society of the Army 
of the Tennessee. .\11 <>( the mend)ers of that society have Ix'en here and have seen 
this location. .Ml of the mendyers of the Societies of the Armies of the I'otomac and 
the CuMd)erland have been here at times and seen this location; and I think the 
veterans of the civil war generally are greatly jtlea-^ed with the location. There is 
no (piestion but what (ieneral (irant's family are very much oj>j>osed to any change. 
Tliere have been sent to the cfuumission the resolutions of the Illinois Commandery 
of the lA)yal Legi<tn. (ieneral (Jrant went into the service from that State. There 
is the letter of the sculptors in New York in relation to the locat'on being a i>roi)er 
one. There are tlu- rcs(jlutions of the New York Conmiandery of the Ix)yal Legion, 
of which (u'neral Cirant was a member. There are also resolutions of the society of 
sculptors or architects here in this city, and of the .\nhitectural ("lub. 

Now, our monument has progre.>^sed. Wc have a good many >pt the models of the 
parts of it. We have commence<l work down here. Mr. Shrady and Mr. Casey 
luive gone t<i a gond deal of exfiense; they have gotten their material down here for 
the foundation. And I want to say lo the Library Connnittee that the commission 
has no doubt whatever that it can remove these trees anil .«ave them. There is only 
one tree, the large oak tree, that there would be any dithcidty about,^f there is with 
that, because the other two, the Beck tree and the Shepherd tree, are small elms — 
such trees as are moved around in the parks and everywhere almost every day in 
the winter. 1 have seen a great many of them moved: and Mr. Hicks, the gentle- 
man who is here, has moved hundreds of these trees. I am told — I have not seen 
the gentleman myself, but the gardener of the.«e grounds states that the trees that 
were moved here when the Capitnl was built, and that Mr. Richard Olmsted (the 
old gentli'inan) reported nn. are still alive. 

Mr. Wii.MAM H. Smith. Oh, no; no. 

(Mr. William H. Smith entered the comnnttee room while Oenenil Dodge was 
speaking, ami left at the time that the change was made to the room of the Committee 
on the Territories. ) 

(ieneral DonoK. .\t any rate, they were alive when he reported on them at that 
time, in 1SS4, and nut of the hundn-d and ndd trees that were moved, a list of which 
you can lind herein the njiort of the Superintendent of the Capitol grounds ( or I 
can leave it with youb that rejiort being made ten or twelve years after those trees 
were moved, tin re are oidy two of the trees that were lost then, and he said they 
were poor trees when they were moved. 

I think myself (and I have had some considerable experience in it) that the saving 
of a tree is simply in the method of moving it. I know some places where they 
move trees and save them, and otln'r jdaces where they <lo not. It sim])ly depends 
U]ion the method they use in moving the trees. I think that we can move thes*- trees 
and save them. Certainly we do imt want to distuil) a historical tre«' where we can 
save it; hut it does seem to me that a great momnnent to (i rant ilown hire is a greater 
memorial to peat-e than even a very valuable tree. 

Mr. TnoMAs. (ieneral, do you mean to say that these^ |>ersons who have made 
protests against a change from this spot are wedded to that particular si>ot and no 
other in the IJolanic (iarden? 

General Dodok. Yes; they do not think there is any other )>lace in the Botanic 
(harden that is suitabl«>. We have looked that ipiestion over, with a view to ]ilacing 
the memorial in the Ilotanic (iarden and have it in accord with the Capitol grounds 
an<l in accord with the condition when that lieconies an oiM?n stpiare, wliich it some 
dav will. 

Mr. TiioM.\s. When the fence is taken down? 

General Donoi: When the fence is taken down. It is placed so that when Se<-ond 
street goes throiiirh it will be in that s(|uare. 

Now, gentlemen, you must understand one thing. In locating a memorial of this 
size, 254 feet one way and 70 feet the other way. you must ha\e suHicient ground 



GRANT MEMORIAL IN BOTANIC GARDEN, WASHINGTON, D. C. 5 

around it for its approaches, for its setting, and everything of that kind. All that 
requires at least, I should say, 500 feet on its long axis and 300 feet on its shorter 
axi^. 

^Ir. Thomas. I understand no work has been done at all. Tlie ground has not 
been broken, has it? 

General Dodge. Oh, yes. We have spent considerable money there in installing 
the foundations, liut stopped as soon as I received these dispatches in relation to these 
trees. I could not come here at the time. I was in the West; and I therefore, at the 
suggestion of the Secretary of War, immediately asked the department of public 
buildings and grounds to defer any further action on it until we could come here. 
We have done nothing on the ground, because we have waited for whatever action 
Congress might see fit to take. 

Mr. Howard. General, how does the location of this monument harmonize with 
the generally accepted plan for the improvement of that part of Washington? 

General Dodge. When we located it in the Botanic C-Iarden we placed this so that 
it would be in accord with that plan. That is, the location of the monument itself 
in the garden was placed so that if that plan was ever carried out it would be in 
accord with it. 

Mr. Howard. la it now in harmony with the construction, say, of the new National 
Museum, down on the right-hand side of an axis from the Capitol to the Monument? 

General Dodge. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Howard. And the new Agricultnral Department building, over on the left- 
hand side? 

General Dodge. Yes, sir; it is. 

Mr. Howard. And other proposed improvements along in that section? 

General Dodge. Yes, sir; it is. 

statement of HON. WILLIAM H. TAFT, SECRETARY OF WAR. 

Secretary Ta FT. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee: I fear that incom- 
ing in at this late hour I may lack a knowledge of some of the details with respect to 
the question which has arisen. 

The committees on the erection of most monuments in Washington, under the 
plan adopted by Congress, are changeable committees in their personnel, for they 
include, usually', the chairman of the House Committee on the Library, the chair- 
man of the Senate Committee on the Library, the Secretary of War, and sometimes 
a representative of the committee of the army society that is interested in erecting 
the monument. But generally the Secretary of War is on every committee of this 
kind, and therefore I am able to speak with some degree of confidence on the diffi- 
culty of selecting sites. 

Immediately that there is an objection made to one site, the argument is advanced: 
"There are lots oi sites in Washington where a monument can be erected." I wish 
first to enter a denial that there are lots of sites for any such monument. We now 
have, I should think, in the War Department some eight or ten committees, of which 
I have the honor to be a member, that are engaged in' hunting sites; and it is the 
most difficult thing that I know of to find an appropriate site for a monument. The 
number of sites that are suitable for the Grant monument is a most limited one. 

This site was selected before I came on the committee. It was selected by Gen- 
eral Dodge, Secretary Root, and, I think, your predecessor, Mr. Chairman, and 
probably Senator Wetmore. The site first selected, as General Dodge says, was on 
the axis between the White House and the Monument; and it was changed because 
it interfered with that beautiful vista between the back of the White House and the 
Monument, leading down to the Potomac River. This location was taken up and 
adopted— I am not quite sure as to what moved General Dodge to it, but I know it 
moved Secretary Root — because it fitted in so well with the proposed improvement 
of Washington. Now I know I am stepping on dangerous ground in mentioning 
that Senate plan, but I have not any hesitation in saying that, so far as the War 
Department is concerned and so far as the head of that Department is concerned, 
the control that by law is given to the Secretary of War with reference to the public 
grounds — everything that the engineers do is done with reference to that plan. 

The Chairman. I doubt, Mr. Secretary, if you put yourself in any danger as far 
as the committee is concerned. 

Secretary Taft. Therefore when we came to determine on the details of the 
monument, after it had been changed from the White Lot to this place, the com- 
mittee of architects which was appointed advised certain changes in the monument 
in order that it should not prove an obstacle to the vista between the Capitol and 
the Monument, in order that both sides should be adjusted to the position that it 
occupied with respect to the INIonument. 



6 GRANT MEMORIAL IN BOTANIC GARDEN, WASHINGTON, U. C. 

The (iiH'rftioii lia.« been asked whetlier trees wouM liave to he cut dowii if this 
monuinent is juit there. The gentleman from North Carolina asked that (luestion. 
The i)uttintj (»f the monument there will disturl) oidy a certain mimlter <>f trees, as I 
understand it. Hut if this i)lan is earrietl out, anil if this monument is made part of 
the irenerai plan, then, of cour.se, trees will have to he removed. 

Now, I yield to no one in my feelin;: with respect to a tree. I feel as if cutting 
down a tree were like tiikinj.' away a life. But, gentlemen, tlie question is whether 
we are to l)e i)ound hy the place at which any nian put.< a tree with respect to sub- 
sequent improvements. I do not think the question can be met by a general maxim 
tliat we ought not to move any trees. We must nxjve some trees. We believe, 
from the expert opinions we have had, that the.«e trees can be moved; and doubtless 
in the construction of the Mall other trees will have to be moved. We will have to 
make an avenue through there, and you can not have a tree standing in the niiddle 
of a road; and if you wish at any time a correct plan with a straight communication 
between the Capitol and the Monument, and there are trees in the way, those trees 
will have to come out. And therefore, to say that you can not move a tree is to say 
that you can not advance. 

On the other hand, we give every consideration in the monument committee to 
the saving of trees. We have done so with respect to Lafayette Park. There are 
some fine trees there that it has been pro[)Osed to move in order to put monuments 
at the corner; and we have refused to do that becau.se of a beautiful elm tree that 
stands just opposite the Cosmos Club. 

These trees are said to be historic. I do not deny that in a sense they are historic; 
but they were not j.ut there by direction of Congre.«s. and they do not themselves 
evidence the liappening of any event at the place. They are not like the tree of 
Appomattox. They do not evidence anything, exceiit that by an arrangement 
between the Senator from Kentucky and the gentleman who ha<l control of this tree 
hai)pene(l to be jtlanted there at that time in memory of something. Hut, gentle- 
men, it is not evidenced by any historical record that 1 know of. It rests, doubtless, 
in the memory of man; but it is not like a monument that evidences something 
authorizeil by the pul)lic law, as this memorial does. 

Therefore it seems to me, as between the two, that the one ought to yield to the 
other, reconciling them as far i\s possible. .\nd as we believe that we can move 
those trees without injuring them, 1 respectfully suggest that this act be not jiassed. 

(^At this i)oint, owing to the damp condition of the walls of the committee room, 
the hearing was adjourned to the room of the Committee on Territories, in the same 
building.) 

STATE.MENT OK COL. ( il.VKLES S. HKOMWKLL, V. -S. .\K.MV. 

Colonel Hko.mwki.i.. The law authorized the location of this monument in the 
Botanic (iarden between Fir.<t and Second streets. After that law had been passed 
I wrote a letter to the Secri'tary suggesting that the sculptor and architect of the 
monument, as well as an architect and landscape gardener of reputation, be a.<sociated 
with me in deterndnini: the exact location of the n\(Miuinent. The live of us had a 
number of meeting's, and alter consiileration we decide<l upon this location. It is a 
point, a.s I say, on the axis hetwein the Capitol and the .Monument, m it 1 way between 
First and Second street-^ when extended. Second street does not now pass through 
the Botanic Carden. 

We took into consideration the so-called Burnham plan, which has been approved 
by the Senate, but has never been ap|>roved by the House. This monument is 
located so that it exactly fits in with that plan. It wax not our part to consiiler 
whether or not the Jiurliham i>lan wa.*; a good plan, and we did not take that into 
consideration. 

The CiiAiuM AN. But you tried not to have the location of the momnut'Ut incon- 
gruous with that? 

Colonel BitoMWELi,. Ye.". We felt that if that plan ever should bi' adoj>te(l it 
would be a great mistake to have the momnnent in a location not in contormity 
with th»' plan. Our location, however, is perfectly satisfactory, and we consider ita 
very desirable location, whether or not the Burnham jtlan evi-r is approve<l. The 
Burnham I'lan i-an be cut out entinMy and our l.>cation of the monmnent will not be 
affect. -d. We consider it to be the best location for the monument now. 

If the liurnham plan is carried out it will necessitate the removal of a great many 
trees through the Mall. It is propo.sed, as you know, to have a roadway extending 
jtracticallv from First street tt) the Washington Monument. We did not consider 
that it was neces.«ary for us to do anythimr at all with the trees around the monu- 
ment at tht- present time, because it is not neces.sary to <lo anything until tin- Burn- 
iiam i)lan is a«lopted; and whin it is adopte«l the trees in the vicinity of the mouu- 



GRANT MEMORIAL IN BOTANIC GARDEN, WASHINGTON, D. C. 7 

ment will be a very small portion of the trees that will be affected. Our idea was 
that, locating it there, that portion of the Botanic Garden might very properly be 
thrown open as a public park. The law already provides that the fence around the 
Botanic Garden shall be rc^ioved, and the trees and shrubs, and everything left 
there; and it will then simply be like any other park. 

As far as moving the trees is concerned, I think there is no question that the 
chances are that they can l)e moved, provided you are going to pay enough money 
for it. It is simply a question of how much money you want to pay to try to move 
a tree. 

The Chairman. Colonel, did you ever have any experience in moving trees? 

Colonel Bromwell. No, sir; but I have looked'into this matter very carefully; and 
if you take sufficient precautions, all of which are measured in a money value, you 
can increase very much the chances of successfully moving trees of the size of these. 
If you adopt the ordinary way of simply cutting a trench 4 or 5 feet from the tree, 
and cutting off all the branches that interfere, and, moving it in that way, you can 
well understand that the chances are very much against a successful moving. If you 
remove the earth 10, 15, or 20 feet from the trunk, and carefully gather up all the 
roots, and protect them, and move them, the chances of success in moving the tree 
are very largely increased. 

STATEMENT OP HON. ELIHU ROOT, SECRETARY OF STATE. 

The Chairman. Gentlemen, the hearing was called at this hour because it was con- 
venient for Secretary Root to be here, and we will be very glad to hear him. You 
may not know the course the hearing has taken, Mr. Secretary. It is perhaps a 
little wider than the bill upon which we are holding the hearing calls for. Any 
observation that occurs to you with reference to the Grant memorial the committee 
will be glad to hear. 

Secretary Root. I am very much obhged to the committee for considering my con- 
venience. I am glad to have an oj^portunity to say something about the location 
of the memorial, because 1 have noticed some misstatements — statements indicating 
a misunderstanding about it — in some of the new^spapers. The commission created 
by Congress to secure a design and select a site and to erect a memorial was com- 
posed of the Secretary of War, the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Library, 
I think 

The Chairman. Senator Wetmore. 

Secretary Root (continuing). Senator Wetmore and General Dodge, I think, as 
president of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee. At that time I happened 
to be Secretary of War, and so was a member of the commission. We met and 
organized and laroceeded to the discharge of the duty that was imposed upon us by 
Congress. We took up the subject, I think, with especial interest, because General 
Dodge and I had been associated with General Porter in the building of the Grant 
memorial in New York. We were the two vice-presidents of that association, and 
had taken an active part in the entire enterprise, and had been very deeply inter- 
ested in it as personal friends of General Grant and of his family. When General 
Porter went to Paris as ambassador, the monument audits management, with the 
direction of the association, were left to General Dodge and myself as vice-presidents, 
so that we were already in the business and we took up the work of the statutory 
commission con ainore. 

The Chairman. As qualified experts, also. 

Secretary Root. So far as a great deal of attention to the subject would qualify us. 
Our work was not at all perfunctory; it went rather beyond the ordinary interest of 
the performance of a statutory duty. We had a competition for design, got some 
gentlemen to heli^ us to select a design, and canvassed the subject of site very fully. 
We first thought of the site immediately south of the State, War, and Navy build- 
ing, and we thought of a site on the White Lot south of the White House, but we 
were not fully satisfied with either of those, and went all over Washington and 
looked at every place we could think of, and we discussed every place that we looked 
at, until finally we came to the conclusion that the monument, or the memorial, as 
I think the statute calls it, ought to have a definite relation to the public buildings 
of Washington, and we settled upon a site directly in front of the Capitol as being 
the best possible site. We considered that w^e were authorized by the statute to 
select that site because, although it was within the fence which surrounds the 
Botanic Garden — the grounds of the Botanic Garden — it was unoccupied. So we 
selected that by a formal resolution. We also selected the design and made the 
contract with the architect and the sculptor for a memorial which, in our judgment, 
was adapted to that site. That was the position in which the matter was left when 



8 GRANT MEMORIAL IN BOTANIC GARDEN, WASHINGTON, D. C. 

I retired from tlie War De|iartiiient, ami my knowledge of the matter ceased. How- 
ever, I still kept a warm interest in it. 

In selecting that site, we had a good many things in view. We considered that 
the statute, s\ hiih made an appropriation of ^L*5U,IK)0 for a memorial to General 
Grant, meant something more than the onlinary statue which, as Secretary of War, 
I have l)een engaged in putting uiiarnuiid tliecityas a memberof similar commissions. 
We felt that it was the intfutiun of Congress, [ilainly exhil)ited by the difference 
between that statute an<l the ordinary monunient ap[)ropriations, to indicate a dis- 
tinction, and that it was our duty to secure a ilesign and to select a site wiuch would 
be distingnislie<l,and which would put the memorial to (ieneral (irant on a different 
footing from the memorials to many generals and jiublic men of inferior place in 
history. We considered also the fact that indications were many that the regit>n 
about the Capitol was al»out to receive attention and to be rescued from the some- 
what unkempt and uncultivated condition in which it had remained for so many 
years. 

The CiiAiK.MAN. You are not thinking of the stiitue of Washington east of the 
Capitol, the seminmle statue? 

Secretary Hoot. No. The new Library had already been built, and the plans for 
the new Imiidings for V>oth Hou.ses of Congress had i)een talked of, and it had gone 
to such a point that tho.>^e buildings were evidently to Ije put up, tliis l)uililing that 
we are in now, and the Senate building. The plan for the removal of the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad from the Mall and the putting up of this great station imme<liately 
north of the Cajiitol had been far atlvanced, and it was quite evident that the move- 
ment of the improving tendency was toward this particular site, and that the neigh- 
borhood of the Capitol was, within a very short time, to be made worthy of the 
Capitol itself. So we considered tiiat a great memorial to General (irant wouM be 
a fitting part of the bringing up of the surroundings of the Capitol to a jniint worthy 
of the Capitol building. We considered that that immediate prospect made it all 
the more approjiriate tliat we should select that site. 

We consiilered the plan, which ha<l alreaily been made ])ubHc, of the 80-calle<l 
park commission, with regard to the beautitication of Washington, and we consid- 
ered what effect upon our judgment the doui)ts as to whether that plan would l)e 
followed or not ouglit to have. We came to the conclusion that, while the site of 
the memorial which we (U'termined upon fitted perfectly into the plan if carried out, 
that, whether it was carried out or not, this was incomparably the best site there 
was in Washington for the memorial. 

The CuAiKM-vx. It did not depend upon the carrying out of the Rurnham j>lan? 

Secretary Koor. Not at all. I think the carrying out of the Burnham plan would 
probablv improve the site, but we were clear that, whether it was carried out or not. 
It was altogether the best site that could be found, and so we performed the duty 
that wa« imposed upon us by Congri'ss and linished our work in that n-spect. 

We made a contract, as 1 think I have saitl, with the architect ami the sculptor, 
under which they have gone on with their work until, 1 understiuid, thev are now 
ready to put thi' work onthe ground. It has now been live years since the <U-sign was 
selected and the site was ."^elected. Not speaking now as a memberof the connnis- 
sion, for I have ceased to l)e a memljer of the commission, Init speaking as a citizen 
intere.>^ted in the memorial to (ieneral Grant and as a citizen who has been happy to 
count himself among the personal friends of General CJrant, I wish to expre.«s a very 
sincere an<l i'arnest hope that the work of erecting this memorial to him shall not l)e 
interfered with; that the work that has been done, which ha.s taken so many years, 
shall not be destroyed; and that the whole effort shall not have to be made over 
again, for a large part of the money that was appropriated by Congress will have to 
be expended under the contract that has been made. The design that was .selectetl is 
adapted to a low, level site, ami it is intended to be .«o that it will not come in com- 
petition with lofty buililings; it is not, itself, to be a lofty memorial. 

The Chairma.v. It is not as.«ertive. 

Secretary Hoot. No; it is not as.<ertive. It is intended to bt^ jmt in juxtaposition 
to some of the public buildings of Washington, and not to compete with them. 

I tliink there .onght to l»e a memorial to Gnmt, and 1 think it ought to l>e put up 
by his old friends and followers and comrades who are still alive, and I hope that 
the work will be allowed to go on in accordance with the decision reached under the 
authority of (.'oni:ress and in the performance of tlie duty that was imposed u|>on the 
officers named by Congress. I do not think of anything else, Mr. Chairman. 

The Chairman. Does anyone desire to :u«k the Secretary any <)uestions? 

Mr. CoxsKK. Were you a meml)er of the commis.sion when the contract was let? 

Secretary Root. I was. 



GKANT MEMOEIAL IN BOTANIC GAEDEN, WASHINGTON, D. C. 9 

STATEMENT OF MR. WILLIAM R. SMITH, SUPERINTENDENT NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDEN. 

The Chairman. Mr. Smith, the committee desire to hear you upon this question 
of the location of the Grant memorial, and especially they wish to ask you certain 
questions about the Botanic Garden. 

Mr. Smith. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Your name is W. R. Smith? 

Mr. Smith. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You are the Superintendent of the Botanic Garden? 

Mr. Smith. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. How long have you been connected with the gardens? 

Mr. Smith. Fifty-five years. 

The Chairman. You may go on and tell us anything that occurs to you in regard 
to the location of the Grant memorial and the trees that are immediately affected by it. 

Mr. Smith. Well, forty years ago or more, when the war was beginning and begun 
in fact, I was very anxious for peace and was very much infused with the idea of 
Mr. Crittenden's being successful, his resolution being passed, and in walking up 
toward the Capitol with John A. Bingham on the one hand, chairman of the Com- 
mittee on the Judiciary, and J\Ir. Gartell, of Georgia, a particular friend of Mr. 
Stevens, I said, ' ' Why can' 1 1 be the agent for bringing you two extremists together? ' ' 
Mr. Gartell said, "Mr. Smith, if your friend Bingham will withdraw his force bill 
and pass the Crittenden resolution, I will guarantee that Georgia does not go out." 
Well, turning to Bingham with all the enthusiasm of my nature, at that time espe- 
cially, I said, "Now, John, now is the time for you to immortalize yourself." He 
said, "Well, I will see about this business." And he came up and got into the 
storm center and came back to tell me next day that it was no use, that no one man 
could control anything about it. That incident induced me to ask Mr. Crittenden 
and Mr. Mallory, his colleague and frier^d, Mr. Wadsworth, of the Committee on 
the Library — and they were all intimate friends — to bring from Kentucky one of the 
largest acorns they could find, and we would plant it where this conversation took 
place, in memory of his efforts for peace, even if they failed. It was planted; it has 
grown; it is a magnificent tree, and there are children of it over the four quarters of 
the Republic, and many of them in European countries. Three hundred of them are 
on the battlefield of Chickamauga, planted there by General Boynton, one of the 
bravest, grandest men of this Repulslie. Hence my ardent anxiety to save the Crit- 
tenden Peace Oak. If it is not destroyed, it may occupy the position as a peace 
agent two or three hundred years. 

The Chairman. Do you remember when this was planted? 

Mr. Smith. I do not recollect the exact date, but it was the year before Mr. 
Crittenden's death. It can be easily verified. Another one, planted by Mr. 
Howard, of Micnigan, is a still handsomer tree; of a different kind, however. It is 
a scarlet oak, and that is one of the trees that will 1)6 destroyed by the destruction, 
to say nothing of 40 or 50 other trees, the two Morrills, both planted by Justin S. 
Morrill on tliat line. The Secretary of War very honestly stated that these were all to 
be swept away if this plan was adopted. These are trees that have been there, the 
two iMorrills, and I might name 40 or 50 others. 

The Chairman. Did you make a record of these trees; was there any record that 
you kept? 

Mr. Smith. I have a record of it. 

The Chairman. That would designate them. 

Mr. Smith. 1 have not put the names on them for a peculiar reason. They would 
be pulled to death. Sentimentalism goes too far very often, and the people take 
leaves. There were one or two trees with the names on them that people wanted 
a leaf — wanted a piece of it — so I have not named them, as I will now if they are 
allowed to remain. ]Mr. Beck's tree, adjoining Mr. Crittenden's tree, is an elm that 
was grown here. When Mr. Olmsted was erecting the architectural terrace that 
had to be destroyed, there was considerable sentiment about it. George Wash- 
ington was said to have planted it, and I received the thanks of Mr. Olmsted for 
taking the roots and potting them, and one of them was planted for Mr. Beck and 
another planted for ]Mr. Alexander Shepherd. There was one of them Mr. Forney 
took to the public works of Philadelphia. Mr. Sargent, Senator from California, 
took one or two to California. Of course I do not know what became of these, but 
the sentiment exists with reference to trees in the minds of most scholarly people on 
the face of the globe. 

Now, I will speak about removing the Crittenden oak. No sensible man, going to 
the spot, would contend for a minute that such a thing could be done. I was aston- 
ished at Mr. Dodge assuming to suggest such a thing. Go there yourself and you 

H. Rep. 1302, 60-1 2 



10 GRANT MEMORIAL IN BOTANIC GARDEN, W^ASHlNGfON, D C. 

will see that it in simply a nonsensici\l statement. With reference to some of the 
other trees, there are .^^everal of them of which Mr. Forney and Mr. Forrest, the 
great tnigedian, and an honor to Aniericii, broujrht nie the seed, and 1 laid them in 
a flower pot and now they are nearly 50 or 00 feet high, stamling there now as 
sentinels, telling their stories, leading people to think. My great eountryman, 
Andrew Carnegie, is the chief agent of this peace question, but that tret will do luure, 
if left alone, than all the publications he ever made, becau.se it sets i)eo|ile to think- 
ing. There is an object lesson; can you get a better one? It came from Washing- 
ton — that is a grand thought. It is a magniticent specimen of the vegetable kingdom 
and leads people to tliink about higher objects, if you please. I am prepared to 
answer anv questions. 

The Cii.\iRM.\N. Now, Mr. Smith, when, if you know, was thatgarden established? 

Mr. S-MiTii. iieorge Washington selected it as a botanic garden, as a jiart of the 
college scheme that he had, as readers of history know, and in ISL'2 an effort was 
made to make a garden of it, and a colleition of rare trees— native trees— was planted 
about the very spot where it is itroi)osed to put General <i rant's monument. That 
was in 18L'l'. It has been known as the Botanic (larden since before the ( iovernment 
move<l to this town, and I hear a good deal ai)Out J^' Enfant — the 1/ Enfant business. 
The beginning of his scheme was on Third street, where he wanted a grand fountain 
or a monument, or something else, and a straight walk leading through to the Presi- 
dential gardens. Instead of that they borrowed money, and instead of the straight 
walk they put a canal where people could probably indidge in the poetry of Venice 
and beautiful gondolas and all that sort of thing. Solitary and alone I put the ball 
in motion to till up that canal; got a nund>er of Membei-s of Congress from Nashville 
to offer the resolution to fill up the canal and make a sewer at one end of it and a 
basin at the other, putting Andrew Jackson's remark to the old Mr. Blair that he 
did not want such a dirty, .stinking ditch in the middle of the town when God 
Almighty had made such a beautiful waterway. 



VIEWS OF THE MINORITY. 

I recognize the strength of the position of my colleagues and the 
very great practical difficult}^ which exists in the wa}- of changing the 
location of the Grant Memorial. But with the duty imposed upon me, 
b}^ the bills referred to the committee, to consider carefully the whole 
question, I do not see my waj'^ clear to approve of the site which has 
been selected. 

The invitation of the Memorial Commission to artists for the sub- 
mission of designs contemplated a work to be erected to the south of 
the White House. The particular design which was selected was pre- 
pared for the so-called " White Lot," which is a large and level iield 
l3dng between the White House and the Washington Monument. 
Mr. Casey, the architect of the memorial, said that he designed it 
for an open field or parade ground, where it could be used as a re- 
viewing stand. It is probably due to that fact and to the ample sweep 
of the site the architect had in mind that the design was for a memo- 
rial of such enormous proportions, extending in length for more than 
250 feet, 70 feet in breadth, and covering an area of about 17,000 
square feet. 

A strenuous objection was made to having the structure put be- 
tween the White House and the Washington Monument and the con- 
sideration of that site was given up. The Commission thus had upon 
their hands, with the necessity for discovering a site for it, probably 
the longest, if not the greatest, work of art in the world. There is not 
room in every public square for a work of such portentous longitude. 

It was not wanted in the vicinity of the White House. It was next 
proposed to place it in the plaza to the south of the new railroad station, 
but the architect of the station seems to have objected to having 
it there. There is quite too strong a tendency on the part of works of 
art of doubtful or unusual character, or undesirable for some other" 
reason, to gravitate in the direction of the Capitol. Apparently in 
obedience to this tendency it found its way ^o the Botanical Garden. 
The necessity imposed by the enormous size of the work, well 
adapted to the location for which it was first designed, is in my opinion 
the chief justification for the selection of the present site rather than an}^ 
special fitness that that site possesses for a memorial to General Grant. 
It is almost the lowest land in the District of Columbia, completely 
overshadowed by the Capitol and Capitol Hill. It is never likely to be 
used as a parade ground as contemplated by the architect and, while 
the street upon which it is located ma}'' become an important thorough- 
fare in the future, it certainly is not an important thoroughfare now; 
The memorial is to be placed near the hothouses and the other incon- 
gruous accessories of a botanical garden. 

The artists of the country, or many of them, have been led to believe 
that the location of the memorial upon the proposed site is in fulfill- 
ment of an important part of the so-called ''Burnham plan" for the 

11 



12 GRANT MEMORIAL IN BOTANIC GARDEN, WASHINGTON, D. C. 

devel<)])ment of Washington, but the model of the phm in the Con- 
oressioniil Library fails to show an}" such enormous structure at that 
phice. Indeed, a work more than 250 feet lonir at the entrance to the 
proposed ^hlll and across the "axis'' from the C'a})itol to the Wash- 
mgton Monument would recjuire a considerable modification of this 
plan as shown upon the model. If it is necessary to select another site 
than that for which the memorial was desioiu'd. the whole subject 
should be reopened, so that the desion und sito might be exacth' 
adapted to each other. 

In mv opinion, a monument to Grant siiould be placed upon some 
more conmianding location, and it should be from a design nuich less 
complex in character. The memorial [)roposed is not in keeping with 
the simplicity <»f the character of (irant. It does not recognize in 
any degree his career in the Presidency during eight important 
3'ears of the countrN^'s history; nor does it suggest at all his rever- 
ence for peace that we should have a complicated memorial of this 
chai'acter. speaking of war in every part of it. There should t)e some 
simple and majestic monument bringing him to our minds as a man, 
as a statesman, and as a soldier. 

As to the beautiful Crittenden oak and the other trees, their preser- 
vation should not be beneath the attention of Congress. They appear 
to me more worthily to occupy that i)aiticular location than wovdd the 
structni'e it is pro])Osed to erect then'. But if the memorial is not to 
be placed upon another site, a special appropriation, if i'e([uired. should 
be made to transplant the trees with every care to secure their safet3\ 

S. W. McCall. 

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